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No one knows the exact number, of course, but professional marketers generally agree that a strong and powerful headline accounts for 70-80% of the effectiveness of every advertisement.

That’s a pretty remarkable statistic when you think about it. A few words at the top of the ad can either make or break the selling power of the entire remaining ad copy.

Why is that true?

Well, if you consider that most readers sprint from one headline to the next when they “read” a newspaper you’ll understand that the viewer is randomly (or maybe methodically) sorting each entry to find clues that tell him “this might be the type of content I want read more thoroughly.”

Headlines are usually bold, easy to locate, and often they are summaries of the content of the ad or article. At a quick glance, it’s pretty easy to decide if you want to stay and dig deeper or jump to the next headline.

It’s not too hard to see why headlines are critical to the success of an ad. If a headline doesn’t grab your attention and force you to stop and read more, you’ll simply skim to the next article or ad, never to come back to the one that you just dismissed.

You can understand why successful copywriting professionals insist that every ad, every article, every bit of content include a very strong headline.

I remember reading about the process that a very famous copy writer went through to complete an advertisement. He would spend a full 80% of his time on a given project coming up with many various headlines, maybe 200 in all … really that many!

Over a week’s time, he would (through the process of elimination) narrow the list of headlines down to about half a dozen that he thought were the best.

Then he would write the content of the ad, do some refining, and set up a trial run — a test of each headline, all with the same ad content.

His test would be on a small number of respondents, but it gave him an idea of which ad would pull the best conversion of prospects into buyers. It wasn’t until there was a clear winner of a headline that he would then roll out his sales campaign in full scale using the number one headline.

As much as possible, he wanted to spend his effort and time in grabbing the reader’s attention and “forcing” him to stick around to see what was in the ad copy itself. I suppose he figured if he couldn’t at least do that much, having the greatest ad copy in the world wouldn’t amount to anything – who be there to read the remainder of the text if the headline didn’t work?

Most good copywriters keep a file (sometimes called a “swipe file”) of effective headlines, those created by others that seem to work well. They may have hundreds of examples tucked away for future reference.

In fact, one of the best ways for you, as a new business owner, to come up with a strong headline is to use the successful headlines of a previous ad and modify or adjust it to be applicable to your own product or service.

We’ll talk more in the future about the fine points of creating profitable headlines for your ads.

I would highly recommend that you begin a file of headlines that appeal to you. Dissect them and learn why they are so powerful. Why did they grab your attention? How can you “repurpose” those headlines for use in your own products or services?

How about this one found in the National Enquirer: “Boy eats his own head!” Is that powerful, or what? Don’t you just want to find out what that’s all about right now?

4. Try putting quotation marks around your headline.

Studies show that doing so increases the customer response. It may not be the best practice always depending upon the type of headline you use. But give it a try and test it against a headline without quotes and see which elicits more attention.

My guess is that it has to do with drawing the prospect into the conversation and making him feel that you’re talking directly with him.

5. Appeal to the prospect’s emotions by using words that elicit a gut reaction.

Get the reader to “feel” the need to read the ad. Emotion is almost always more motivating than logic.

Many folks buy on emotion alone and you want to stimulate those buying impulses.

6. Use simple, easy to understand words.

Don’t try to be too clever, fancy, or use jargon that some readers may not grasp.

Most often, direct and to-the-point is the best approach for your headline. Most people don’t use big words or technical language in their everyday lives.

So headlines like “Discover the amazing new way to . . .” forces the reader to continue reading the ad to find out just what this new discovery entails. Other things haven’t worked in the past, maybe this new discovery will actually help me!

8. There’s a fine line between hype and excitement.

Boring ads just don’t work. The prospect will be gone as soon as he is tired of reading the headline that doesn’t spark some emotion and excitement. But there is a difference between getting excited and being “hyped” or fooled by too much of a good thing.

Good headlines make for exciting reading. They are compelling and emotional.

Look at the gripping headlines in the National Enquirer as examples of writing that creates excitement and curiosity.

9. Leave the reader anxious to get into the body of your ad.

The headline should leave the prospect curious and hungry for more. It should lead the reader by the hand into the coming copy.

You want him to be overflowing with desire to solve his problem by purchasing your product.

10. Feel the reader’s pain.

You must place yourself in the reader’s shoes. You must feel empathy for him and his problem or desire.

It doesn’t matter what your concerns are as a marketer . . . the prospect is reading your headline looking for something that interests him, or that saves him time, or that makes him feel good.

Tell him how you are going to solve his problem with your product.

I’ll give you some additional suggestions on specific headlines later; but for now, understand that headlines really are important to your Internet marketing business success.

Become a student of this subject and your expertise will soon pay you great dividends.

Information businesses rely heavily on content and generally require the use of a headline.

Every business owner, at some point in his/her career, will face sharp and emphatic criticism by a customer, supplier, or competitor.

Whether the criticism or complaint comes about as the result of an honest mistake, an ignored customer, a failed product, a wicked competitor or from some other source – it will eventually happen.

No one appreciates being the brunt of verbal tirades and name-calling.

We all take offense to blame that belongs elsewhere and rude customers that get their jollies by preying upon the “hold your tongue” business owner that wants to avoid confrontation at all costs.

Criticism that is personal, emotional, and charged with vengeance, while not fun to endure, at least grows milder with time and can be thrown out with the rest of the business trash next Wednesday.

There is another kind of criticism, though, that no business owner should blow off. It is the other side of the sword, the second edge that is especially sharp and dangerous.

Criticism that your business isn’t delivering what it says it will … ought to be listened to intently; and further, it ought to be scrutinized in detail to identify the underlying reasons and causes for the customer discontent.

This is the kind of criticism, again, valid or not, that can ruin your business if ignored or swept under the rug.

There are many, many reasons why a customer can be deflated when he sees, tries, or uses your product or service.

Your job is to understand, from his point of view, why his purchase doesn’t meet his expectations.

He trusted you with his money. He expected to receive some level of value and satisfaction in return. But for whatever reason, your business didn’t produce as it was supposed to (at least in his eyes).

You have broken the customer’s trust and created a monster that will often spread the word within the niche that you don’t deliver, that you are out to rip off everyone that buys from you.

Sadly, it really doesn’t matter if the customer is being truthful or if he is totally lying about your lousy business or products. Perception in the minds of those he blabs to about your awful business is not much different than reality.

So how do you set the record straight? What can you do to calm the injured and make restitution sufficient to be forgiven?

The very first thing to do is to silence your critic. You don’t want any more ears listening in on this conversation than necessary. Get your dirty laundry out of the public eye immediately.

The best way to handle such a situation is to offer the wounded customer an immediate and on-the-spot no-questions-asked full refund. Give him his money back so the issue is no longer that you ripped him off.

Now he still may not like you or your product, but at least he has no basis for claiming that he was a hit-and-run victim of a scam artist.

I would do everything in my power to try to understand the customer’s real reason for being upset. Often the truth is hidden and covered with lots of excuses and reasons. Maybe the customer had a bad day, a blow-out with his wife, or he just felt the need to vent on anyone that happened to be near.

If you are going to get to the bottom of your search for your business’ failing, you have to peel back the outer layers and find the core of concern.

If you manage to get to that point, the criticism you initially received will become almost a favor, a blessing in disguise.

It will be a signal that alerts you to something in your business system or product that needs attention right now.

I’m reminded of the old adage, “a stitch in time saves nine.”

When initial criticism leads to the identification and repair of a potential catastrophe, making for a stronger and more customer-centric business, you should thank your lucky stars that your customer had the guts to speak up about his displeasure.

Of course, the customer is not really always right. But there is wisdom in treating him/her as though that was the case.

Some business owners will simply dismiss this suggestion. They will say they don’t have time for, or need the hassle of a disgruntled customer that is clearly at fault. It’s their business and they can serve whom they will.

I prefer to think of all my customers (both the good and the bad ones) as being worthy of my very best effort at customer care.